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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — happy
  4. root — the cause
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pop — to visit
  8. branch — a division
  9. cell — in biology
  10. hand — help
  11. pop — soda
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cell — a phone
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — magic
  16. pop — music
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spell — letters
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. root — of a word
  21. spell — a short time
  22. content — the amount
  23. kid — child
  24. root — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com